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Eichel not contributing to McDavid vs. Eichel hype

Team USA's Jack Eichel (front R) shakes hands with players from the Czech Republic after their gold medal game at the Ice Hockey U18 World Championships 2014 in Lappeenranta, Finland earlier this year. (REUTERS)

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It might be the most famous wrist in all of Canada, but Jack Eichel claims he hasn’t been following the saga of Connor McDavid’s wonky hand whatsoever.

“I haven’t been focused on him -- I don’t know what’s going on with him,” Eichel said Tuesday here in Boston, where Team USA opened up training camp in preparation for the upcoming world junior championship.

“I had two finals yesterday and just finished up school so I just hope it translates into helping Team USA.”

And so, as the Boston University freshman closed his textbooks in the classroom for one semester, he’s about to write a new chapter out on the ice -- one that certainly will help determine his ongoing legacy entering the NHL draft next June.

Whether it’s fair or not, this tournament is unofficially being perceived as McDavid Vs. Eichel.

The fans love it. The media is hyping it.

After all, how often do you have a pair of blue chip prospects such as these splendid talents coming up in the same year, producing a showdown between the two top-ranked draft eligible players?

And come Dec. 31, it will culminate -- at least in the preliminary rounds anyway -- with The Battle at The Bell Centre, featuring McDavid’s Canadians against Eichel’s Americans. Of course, there will be lots of other players on the benches and the ice for both teams on that particular night, too.

You just won’t hear much about them leading into the game. Not with Connor and Jack in the house.

“To be honest I’m not thinking about it,” Eichel claimed. “This tournament is not about me versus him at all. It’s all about team USA. That’s our motto.”

While he tries to shield himself from the propaganda that surrounds the tournament, Eichel does know this: He’ll be wearing a red-white-and-blue bull’s-eye on his chest. The eyes of opposing players will be setting their sights on him each and every time he steps onto the ice.

How he is able to handle himself in such situations will go a long way in determining how he -- and, in fact, Team USA -- will fare over the next three weeks.

“I think you will always have a target on your back,” Eichel said. “I don’t (worry about) it too much. I just try and do what I can to help the team win.”

At the same time, the attention that awaits him in the Great White North simply cannot be ignored.

“In a quick tournament like this, the littlest thing can be the difference between winning and losing and if that means blocking out all the outside distractions, we have to do it,” he said. “For a team like us going up into Canada, we’re going to be scrutinized. It’ll be important for us to just stay focused on what we need to do and block out all the outside stuff.’

Easier said than done.

Interestingly, the McDavid Vs. Eichel storyline is one that Team USA officials realize will be exploited by the press and public alike, whether they like it or not. Having said that, they are confident that Eichel has the makeup to withstand the special attention he’ll get from the opposition, not to mention the razzing from the pro-Canada crowd.

“We were just talking about that last night,” laughed Team USA coach Mark Osiecki when asked about how the tournament is being perceived as a showdown between these two young budding stars.

“The best thing about Jack is that he’s just a humble kid. He handles things unbelievably well and is easy to talk with from us as a staff. I don’t think we’re worried about that too much.

“The biggest thing is that he doesn’t have to shoulder all the pressure. He’s a humble kid and does a great job with it. His parents did a tremendous job with this kid, they really did.”

Team USA general manager Jim Johansson considers the presence of both McDavid (health pending) and Eichel to be “great for our sport,” no matter who wins.

“It’s great for the tournament, it’s great for hockey fans. It’s also something that keeps raising the bar of the event and other players saying ‘I want to get to that.’

“From our perspective it’s kind of two-fold. First it’s great to have Jack here on the team and as a teammate. Secondly, I hope there’s nine and 10-year-old kids across the country saying: ‘I want to be the next Jack Eichel. I want to be on Team USA because of the hockey we’re going to see.’”

And the hockey does stand to be great, especially with Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel being part of the show.

ROAD ICE ADVANTAGE?

For groups of hockey-loving teenagers clawing their ways towards what they hope are NHL careers, Montreal’s Bell Centre and Toronto’s Air Canada Centre are two of the biggest -- if not THE biggest -- stages in hockey.

And with the upcoming word junior championship about to be hosted by these two wonderful theatres, the players can’t wait to experience the vibe in both buildings for themselves.

“It’ll be a ton of fun,” Team USA forward Jack Eichel said Tuesday. “I can’t wait to see that atmosphere. When you see Canadiens games or Maple Leafs games, you can see how crazy the fans are and how much passion there is.

“But I think we can take that as an advantage. Team Canada will have some pressure and we just need to go out there and play.”